Lara Liwford
Lara Lynne Liwford Pitt, CH, DBE (born September 29, 1978) is an British singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She achieved popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Liwford is known for reinventing both her music and image, and for maintaining her autonomy within the recording industry. Music critics have acclaimed her musical productions, which have generated some controversy. Often referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she is cited as an influence by numerous other artists around the world. Born in London, Liwford moved to Los Angeles in 2002. After recording and sharing demo albums, she signed with Jive Records in late 2004 and released her debut album "Enter In My Game" on the same year. She followed it with a series of commercially successful albums, including the Grammy Award winners Paint the Sky With Stars (2007) and Controversy (2012). Throughout her career, Lara Liwford has written and produced most of her songs, with many of them reaching number one on the record charts, including "Rain", "Art Bitch!", "I'm Never Gonna Stop", "Stay In Your Place", "Hunter", "(This Is) A Song 4 the Lonely", "Class", "Rehab", "Broken" and "I Like It Rough". Liwford's popularity was further enhanced by her film roles, including Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Mer Girl (2007), and Chocolat (2010); the second and latter both earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Actress. However, most of her other films have been panned by critics. Her other ventures include fashion design, writing children's books, and filmmaking. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman, particularly after she founded entertainment company Musik Factory. In 2010 she signed an unprecedented US $120 million 360 deal with Live Nation. Having sold more than 300 million records worldwide, Lara Liwford is recognized as the best-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) listed her as the best-selling female rock artist of the 21th century and the second best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64.5 million certified albums. According to Billboard, Liwford is the top touring female artist of all time, grossing over a billion dollars from her concerts. She was ranked at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of American singles chart, and also the only billionaire singer with a true net worth of $1 billion, fact that makes her not only the richest female singer in the world, but the richest of all singers, regardless of gender. Life and career '1979-2004: Early life and personal struggles' Born in 29 September 1978 in London, England, the daughter of actress Marcheline Bertrand and actor Jon Voight, Lara Lynne Liwford, a blond little girl with green eyes was the couple's gift to the company before only son, James Heaven. Growing up in London, she was set up at D. East High school and was always an exemplary student, but never a girl of many friends. She showed talent as a child at ballet and school plays but Lara always felt isolated and rejected by everyone, specially after her parents' divorce whe she was 9, but that didn't stop her from doing her depressive-act which turned into a hobby: she had the mania for self-mutilate. Depressed, at 14, Liwford started a psychological treatment with an intensive therapy and after two years the girl showed up as a new person, even though her habits of isolation kept remaining. Even though she wasn't a girl of many friends, she had a few to count in one hand, as they put on together a band called "The Red Roses". The pop/rock band started singing in bars and nightclubs but never get the attention it deserved. After giving up from the world of music, the family moved to Los Angeles in 2002, when her mother discovered she had breast cancer and it would have to treat it in there. Lara finished their studies in Los Angeles, majoring in psychology at University of California. In 2004, motivated by her mother, Lara tried again to get in line with her passion: music. With a help from producers she met during her times at The Red Roses band, Liwford starting launching her musical career by sharing a demo cd on different labels. 2004-2006: ''Enter In My Game ''and ''Rain'' Getting some attention thanks to her demo album, Liwford got a contract with Jive Records to release her first album: "Enter In My Game". The album was a huge success all over the world, including the United States and United Kingdom. The title track, "Enter In My Game", topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks. It attracted the attention of organizations who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values and moralists sought to have the song and video banned. As for the album, released a couple weeks after the first single release, led it into a holiday-themed promo single, "My Christmas" and then to the controversial second single, "Fuck My Life", which made the then impossible until then, peaking a explicit song at the Billboard's top 3; and in the first trimester of 2005, the singer released the third and last single from the album, "Fairies In My Dream". Considered one of the best pop albums of history, it sold, to date, over 5,000,000, certified as multi-platinum and recording at UK with over 1,300,000 copies. 'Personal life' Liwford started dating the actor Billy Bob Thornton in January 2005, whom she met at a premiere. They married after only four months and splitted-up six months later, when the singer asked the divorce for 'incompability'. In late November 2005, Liwford adopted her first child, Maddox, during a humanitarian trip to Cambodia. During the shooting of her first movie "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", in the first trimester of 2006, the singer met actor Brad Pitt and both started a relationship on behind the scenes, as Pitt was divorcing from the actress Jennifer Aniston. In mid-2006 the couple announced they were in a serious relationship, as Pitt adopted with Liwford her second child, Zahara, during a humanitarian trip to Namibia. The couple adopted their until then third child, Pax, during another humanitarian trip to Vietnam in December 2006 - during the same trip, Liwford announced she was four months pregnant, giving birth to her daughter Shiloh Nouvel in May 2007. Pitt asked Liwford for marriage one year later, when Liwford announced the proposal on the opening date of her The Velma Kelly Show World Tour. At the end of 2008, Liwford got pregnant again, giving birth to twins, Knox and Vivienne, in July 2009. Discography 'Studio Albums' * Enter In My Game (2004) * Rain (2005) * Art Bitch! (2005) * Time For Me (2006) * Saint Or Devil (2006) * Paint the Sky with Stars (2007) * The Cabaret Of Lara Liwford (2008) * Controversy (2011) * =Rights (2014) Compilations & Remix Albums * Greatest Hits (2006) * Lara Remixed (2009) * GHV2 (2013) Other Songs Filmography * Time After Time (2005) * Fatal Frame (2005) * Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2006) * Mer Girl (2007) * Chocolat (2010) Television shows and appearances * CSI Las Vegas (2010) - 1 episode * Glee (2012) - 2 episodes * Three And Then Some (2013) - 13 episodes Tours * Enter In My Game Tour (2004) * Art Bitch! World Tour (2005) * Create Yourself World Tour (2006) * May It Be World Tour (2007) * The Velma Kelly Show World Tour (2008) * Black Widow World Tour (2012) * Darkest Rights Tour (2014) * =Rights+ World Tour (2015) Enterprises * Webo Girl Publishing, Inc. (2006–present) * Loving Life Dance Studios (2007–present) * Musik Factory (2010–2015) * Lara Liwford Fragrances (2015–present) Category:Recurring Artists Category:2004